Download bots were the "well-known secret" of the app ecosystem

It’s remarkable how widely-known the phenomenon of fraudulent download bots was throughout the iOS developer community. Essentially, bots or automated programs have been used for well over a year to download apps until they reach the top of the charts where they can be seen by real users.

Most every large player knew about them, but I could never definitively prove their existence because most developers clammed up or said they would never touch the stuff.

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